Sleeping to Dream
by FigFan
Summary: HanLeia, set during the OT. "He loved to watch her sleep."


Title: Sleeping to Dream

Author: FigFan

Spoilers: Uh, nothing that isn't in the Original Trilogy.

Rating: PG-13, I'd say.

Author's Notes: This is my first stab at Star Wars fic. I've always been real interested in how Han and Leia's relationship progressed, so I thought I would put a different spin on it. Hopefully it works. Many thanks to Rachael, who beta read this puppy for me and didn't laugh at me too much!

Feedback is awesome. FigFan2002 at yahoo dot com

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Han Solo had always been impressed by Leia's capacity to nap. She had the uncanny ability to curl up inside herself and shut out the galaxy for a few minutes, no matter where she was, no matter what was going on. It served her well in her ever hectic life as a Rebel leader, and he assumed it had served her well in her life as a senator as well. Often times nights were interrupted and no one would get more than a few hours of rest, so a quick nap during the day was her only respite.

He loved to watch her sleep.

At first it was done to get under her skin. He quickly learned that it annoyed her, and so he found great pleasure in continuing to do it.

_Han turned the corner into another frozen corridor. Luke had asked him to get a datapad from Leia, and it was only grudgingly that he agreed. He couldn't understand why Luke couldn't go himself. He adored the princess, almost to the point of worship, and usually found reasons to seek out her company. _

_Han and the princess on the other hand…. He wasn't sure where they stood anymore. Whatever understanding and connection they had established during their time on Ord Mantell had been lost soon after they arrived on Hoth. They were back to arguing, but with a new intensity, with none of its previous teasing qualities. _

_He reached one of the conference rooms and opened the door, enjoying the warmth that washed over him from the room's environmental control system. He had been told that this was where she was, but he saw no sign of her. He walked further into the room, a smirk dancing across his face as he caught sight of her. _

_Leia was seated in a chair at the corner of the conference table, very clearly asleep. Her legs were tucked beneath her, and her one arm was on the rest of the chair, her hand propping up the side of her head. The other was in her lap, fingers curled around the datapad Luke had sent him to retrieve. Han moved closer to her chair, amazed that she could be sleeping so easily. This part of the base was always noisy, between the shifting snow above them, and the incoming radio transmissions from various remote locations. _

_Solo couldn't stop looking at her. For as regal as she always managed to look, she appeared decidedly… child-like at the moment. But not in the way of immaturity. No, Han decided, she looked innocent. Peaceful._

_And incredibly attractive. _

_It was nothing new to Han, finding the princess attractive. Lately though he had started to think that it was something more. And his instincts told him that she felt the same way. _

He stared in her direction until he saw her flinch. She had sensed him-well, somebody- in the room and awoke with a start, hand immediately flying out of her lap and to the blaster that was lying by her side. She raised it out in front of her and then looked up to see who was in the room with her.

_He raised his hands in surrender. "Hey, it's just me."_

_She lowered the blaster. __For an instant, it seemed as if she was relieved, almost happy to see him. But soon the familiar mask of annoyance that was usually directed towards him fell across her features. _

_A look of mock indignation on his face, Solo moved closer to the table. "Is this how you always treat men who you wake up next to?"_

_She glowered up at him. "Wake up next to? If you think that you can just come in here to enjoy your own personal-"_

"_Cool it, Your Worship. I'm just here to pick up that datapad of yours. Luke needs it for whatever he's doing." He took a step back. "Then I'll let you get back to your beauty sleep."_

_Leia uncurled her legs and stood up from the chair, re-holstering her blaster and picking up the datapad. She opened her mouth to offer him the pad when she noticed a familiar lopsided grin across his face. "What?"_

_He couldn't resist the temptation to fluster her more. "You were dreaming about me, weren't you?" _

_Her eyes widened in shock at his statement, then quickly narrowed into a glare. She shoved the datapad towards him, forcefully enough that it made a dull thud as it hit against his chest. _

"_That, Captain, could only be considered a nightmare."_

_He couldn't help but notice the color rising in her cheeks as she stormed out of the room. _

Han smiled to himself. That day had been so long ago, yet he remembered it just as vividly.

From that day on, Solo enjoyed the times he stumbled across her quirky habit. He never sought her out, but was always on the lookout for her small form curled in a chair or on a makeshift bed made out of boxes and tarps. As the weeks went by he found that he enjoyed watching her sleep more than waking her up. He sometimes felt that he was a little too voyeuristic, but at the same time, the princess easily could have returned to her quarters. When she was asleep, Han could look at her the way she deserved to be looked at. He would let his mind wander, and it surprised him sometimes to find that he was imagining sleeping next to her. Nothing lewd, just holding her and sharing the peace that she seemed to find while asleep.

But none of that mattered. He had a debt to pay off, and he would soon be leaving the fleet. He would probably never see her again.

Han shifted in his bed, reaching out to reclaim the covers that had been taken away from him. Of course he didn't leave the Alliance to pay of Jabba. Leia had ended up on the _Falcon_ with him, and they had hid in an asteroid field, and they had kissed, and in that moment, everything changed.

_Han awoke to a strange noise coming from outside his bunk. He figured at first it was the ship, complaining and responding to both Threepio's attempts at communication and Chewie's attempts at repair. As he focused in on the sound, however, he realized that it was someone yelling out, almost screaming. _

_Leia screaming. _

_Pulling a shirt over his head and grabbing his blaster, Han dashed out of his quarters down the corridor of the ship. He couldn't think of anything that could possibly attack her from onboard, but he also wasn't taking any chances. _

_By the time he cycled open the door to the spare bunk_ _the screaming had subsided into soft yet persistent whimpering. Leia was flat on her back on the bed; covers kicked to the floor in a heap. Her eyes were shut tightly, and strands of hair were stuck to her forehead, damp with sweat. He stood over her for a moment, unsure of what to do. She was obviously in the midst of a nightmare, but at the same time he wasn't sure how she would react to him standing over her if he was to wake her up. _

_The whimpering began to increase in volume again, and so he reached down to gently squeeze her shoulder. "Leia." She stirred, so he repeated her name again. _

_She opened her eyes and he smiled. Not a cocky one, not a suggestive one, but merely a comforting smile. He was there as a friend, as a familiar face. Nothing more. He could see terror in her eyes, and he couldn't begin to imagine what had been haunting her dreams. Recognition then washed over her as she realized where she was._

"_You okay there, sweetheart?"_

_Leia sat up and rested her head back against the wall. "I'm fine."_

_He didn't believe her for a moment, so he pressed again. This time her response had a biting tone to it. "It was just a bad dream. I'm fine." She looked down, and then looked back up at him. "But thank you, for…" Her sentence trailed off as she motioned towards him. _

"_Yeah. Well. Just my job, y'know, gotta protect my ship." He was stumbling on his words, unsure about what to do with her admission of thankfulness. He wasn't sure if she was thanking him for checking on her tonight or for something bigger. He had almost cycled the door shut when she called out his name. _

"_Han?"_

_He turned around and waited for her to continue. _

"_No… never mind. I'm fine." She fiddled absently with the sheets that were bunched around her. _

_He took a step back into the room, back towards her. Fully bracing himself for a verbal attack, he took a deep breath before speaking. "I don't think you're fine."_

_She lifted her head towards him, but kept her eyes downcast. "I just… it might help if someone stayed in here for a while. The darkness gets to me sometimes."_

_Han nodded slowly, not quite understanding how they went from arguing to this in such a short period of time. "Sure," he stammered, then quickly smiled and repeated his statement in a stronger voice. "Sure." He moved past her bed to grab the chair beside it, but was stopped as Leia reached out and squeezed his hand. He followed the tug of it and found himself next to her on the bed. _

_He pushed away any lingering confusion about her behavior and focused on comforting the Princess. _

_Soon her breathing was slow and even, her head cradled in his lap, him leaning back against the wall. Han wasn't sure what to make of everything. The Falcon had been limping towards Bespin for over two weeks now, and their relationship had been doing just the same- limping. They were civil towards each other, even friendly, yet even after that first kiss in the asteroid field there was an underlying tension that emerged whenever they were alone in a room together. They were at a standstill, and that was not something Solo was used to._

_Normally, Han would have made his move by now. He was no stranger to women; he knew the buttons to press and the lines to say to get them right where he wanted them. And he did want her. Badly. But this wasn't some girl he picked up in a cantina on the Outer Rim, this was a Princess, this was Leia. _

_His Princess. His Leia._

_When did he become possessive of her? Whatever attraction he had towards her had gradually turned into something bigger, something uncertain. And he was fairly sure that she felt the same way. But of course she wouldn't act upon it. He was leaving. He had to leave. _

_This was certainly a mess. _

_But as he watched her sleep, Han decided it was a mess that could wait another night. He slipped his arm under hers and across her waist and kissed her forehead. She stirred slightly, burrowing further into his lap as he tried to get some sleep as well. _

Sleep never came to Solo that night. He merely sat and watched her, running his fingers through her hair and softly caressing her stomach. Her nightmares hadn't returned, at least not to his knowledge, and it would have been easy to gently lie her back down against the pillow and retreat to his own quarters. But he was enjoying the feeling of her so close to him too much to leave. She weighed next to nothing, but he was amazed by how warm she was. Hours later she had woken up acting shy and somewhat embarrassed that he was still there. But she thanked him, and had given him a soft yet lingering kiss before heading to the 'fresher.

He considered that night one of many turning points in their relationship. They arrived at Bespin days later, and while their relationship may not have progressed physically, it certainly had emotionally. There was a new tenderness and softness between them. Even with the foreboding sense of danger that surrounded it, the brief time they spent in Cloud City before the Empire made themselves known was something Han had never experienced before. The bickering was present as ever, but there was a gentle undercurrent that came with it, and much time was spent just talking and enjoying each other's company. It almost felt… normal.

Nothing about that trip was normal though.

For as surreal as their time on Bespin was, the carbonite was something else entirely. For months, all Han could see was Leia's face before the floor fell out from underneath him. The fear, the despair, the hopelessness- but also the love.

And then suddenly he was with her again, in a different world at a different time. But to him, it had felt like no time had passed at all.

He shifted again on the bed. It had been nearly a month since he was unfrozen, yet his limbs still grew heavy and his heart raced when he thought about his ordeal.

_Han blinked rapidly as he willed his eyes to focus on the world around him. His eyesight was almost back to normal, but he still struggled with it at times. He had been on the Falcon for a week as they traveled to Sullust, and much to his annoyance he had spent most of it sleeping off the lingering effects of his hibernation sickness. That was the last thing he wanted to be doing. He wanted to be flying his ship. He wanted to be catching up with Chewie. Most of all, he wanted to be with Leia. They had had precious little time alone on the skiff back to the Falcon, and in the past week he had seen her only when she had come to check up on him. _

_He sat up, bracing his hands on either side of him to combat the wave of dizziness that passed through him. He wasn't really surprised to see Leia by the head of his bed, asleep in a chair taken from the forward hold. She had his jacket draped around her, strands of hair spilling out over the collar. Her head was positioned in such a way that she seemed to have fallen asleep looking right at him. Han couldn't help but notice how much older she looked, how much more world-weary. Lines creased her brow and circles had formed under her eyes. Still, he thanked the Gods that he could finally really look at her. She was a comfort to him. _

_Before he knew_ _it, her brown eyes were staring into his. "Hey," she mumbled, stretching her arms above her head. _

_Han mustered up the best grin he could. "Couldn't bear to sleep without me, huh?"_

"_Nice try, flyboy." She smiled back at him. "How are you feeling?"_

"_Great. In fact, I think I can go fly my ship now." He moved to get off of the bed, but was stopped by her hand pushing him back down. _

"_The only reason you're here instead of the medical frigate is because you promised the medics that you would take it easy." He opened his mouth to protest but the princess quickly cut him off. "Lando and Chewie are fine. And Threepio is under strict orders to come find me if anything goes wrong. You need to rest."_

_It was hard to mask the bitterness that arose from her last statement. "Well, Your Highness, I've spent the last six months resting. I'd like to get on with my life!"_

_If she flinched at his outburst, she didn't show it. Instead she moved onto the bed next to him and kissed his temple. "I know. I know you do." He turned his head towards her and brushed his lips against hers—tentatively at first, but then with more confidence as she responded in kind. It was only for a moment though, as Leia then broke apart from him and ran her fingers through his hair. _

"_Again, nice try. You really do need to rest though." Han grumbled, but he could feel the exhaustion creeping up on him again. He longed for the day where he could stay awake for more than an hour without feeling like he had been dragged through the snow on Hoth. _

_With her fingers still in his hair, he drew himself close to her again, stopping right as their noses touched. "I love you." _

_She pulled back, and he froze momentarily. But then one hand left his head and lingered on his cheek. She flashed a grin larger than he had ever seen before, then slipped her arms around his waist. She whispered into his neck. "Good. Because I'm not letting you go. Not again."_

_After a few moments she left his embrace and settled back into the chair by Han's side. He drifted off to sleep, and much like Bespin, the last thing he remembered seeing was Leia. But this time her expression was only one of adoration and love, and that brought him his first peaceful slumber in days. _

The bedcovers had left Han's body once again, this time without him even noticing. He sat up slightly and wrested them away from the sleeping woman that was beside him. She had a little bit of smuggler in her under all the layers of nobility…

Han really couldn't believe his luck. After everything that had happened, when it was all said and done, he ended up with his princess in bed with him.

No, it was much more than that. His princess _loved_ him.

He moved down to kiss her shoulder. She tasted both sweet and salty, her natural taste mingling with the sweat that had dried on her skin. The Ewok celebration had ended hours earlier, and as the weary troops dispersed into the night he had led her back to the _Falcon_, where their own personal celebration began.

A soft voice penetrated the silence that had surrounded the room. "You watching me sleep again, Solo?"

"Maybe." He moved his attention up from her shoulder to her neck, warming inside as he felt her respond to him.

"Why do you like watching me so much?" He stopped his kisses. Their relationship had always been so complicated. It was backwards, it was convoluted, he still felt like he was living a dream. But this answer was so clear to him, so simple.

"Because you're beautiful."

Leia turned towards him, cheeks flushed red. She then kissed him, softly, slowly, nothing like their frenzy of earlier, but powerful all the same. When they parted, she wrapped herself around him and whispered softly, "Go to bed. I'll be here in the morning."

Han did just that. Watching his princess sleep was one thing, but sleeping with her was quite another.


End file.
